Comparing snowboards and surfboards doesn’t work, they are completely different, snow is for the most part, solid, (even underneath the powder, but most runs don’t have powder), water is a liquid, the requirements for board design are completely different.
The dampener’s that I was talking about weren’t supposed to influence the boards flex. Only to absorb the high frequency vibrations or chatter below the feet. This way the rider was literally better connected to the deck. Theory was to give a comfy ride and assist in control from the rider’s perspective. They said that it was incorporated into the sandwich and it wasn’t like a gel pad that you stood on. I never tried it and was only regurgitating an interesting concept.
I do agree completely about the bump and general wigglyness of a super light surfboard in sloppy conditions. The funny thing is that a super thick 30lb round railed monster just plows through it like nothing. Just got to figure out a way to have the plow factor and be able to snap it like a whip.
My prior experience was to estimate the riders ability level, weight, and the board length/width, then adjust my lay-up schedule to try and achieve a “good” amount of flex. Stiffest between the feet with a progressive flex pattern of slowly increasing flex to the tip of the board. During planing the board should maintain a flatter faster rocker and then during hard turning off the tail the rocker line would increase as the board flexed. This would assist in a quicker turn because of the increasing tail rocker line and would be the preload on the boards flex. Unweighting the turn would give the tail a push as the board flexed back to its original rocker line or the sensation of getting a squirt out of your turns. Too little of this type of flex response and the board felt dead, too much you’d get the wet noodle feeling.
Without having to deal with wood stringer right in the middle of the board it was easier to control the flex by tapering the core and adjusting the cloth.
Like I said I can’t wait to get one of those parabolic blanks.
I have been thinking that the classical stringer down the middle of the board does add strength, but causes stress. The foam on the outer edges and midway between the edges and the stringer is going to flex more than the stringer, causing the foam to be deformed unevenly when the board flexes. Opinions?
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Comparing snowboards and surfboards doesn’t work, they are completely different, snow is for the most part, solid, (even underneath the powder, but most runs don’t have powder), water is a liquid, the requirements for board design are completely different.
In the past whenever somone brings up this argument I would post the link to a photo, taken by an old friend of mine who is a surfboard photographer, of a guy making an S turn across a body of water on a snowboard. But they changed the website for that magazine and it’s no longer online(I can’t find it atleast). You can ride a surfboard on powder. IMHO the dynamics of turning a surfboard and a snowboard are quite similar as long as the snowboard is not riding fully on the steel edge.
regards,
Håvard
You know it is so ironic that someone would say that snowboarding is in no way related to surfing. Most of you should know that surfing is the root for most dynamic board sports.
It’s funny I’m old enough to have met people that actually believed putting a fin on a surfboard was a stupid idea. When people tell me no and can’t I just laugh.
Ultimately All this is dreams for the dreamers. Not trying to be someone, just having fun trying to make something different. The best way for me to sum it all up is to watch the movie on Woody Brown http://www.dlbfilms.com/woody.html.
I agree Nathan. The only thing that is similar is, that in a turn parts of both boards travels faster than other parts creating an arc. With a surfboard when you sink the rail, water drag slows that rail down and the board starts to turn. Snow is different, you travel faster across densily packed snow than powder, there is less friction. With a snowboard when you lean into a turn on a snowboard you are pushing the edges at both ends of the board into the snow, the snow compacts under the weight which reduces friction and the ends start traveling faster than the centre of the board creating an arc shaped path. This is why snowboards have camber and curves with the widest points at the ends and why surfboards have rocker and the wide point in the middle of the board. (please don’t attempt to debunk this elegant theory with pics of Benny’s peanut board - its not relevant, there’s just some weird voodoo shit going on with that thing)
the sidecut on snowboard have IMHO very little effect in powder. IMHO the most important factor for turning is the area of board in realation to stance. If you have a setback stance, there is more area up front generating more up force up front than back. Now lean it on an edge and the greater force up front will create a sideways component and you turn. Works exactly the same way for a surfboard as for a snowboard in powder. Everything else there is to it is just there to make it work better and add control 
regards,
Håvard